The Trykers and the Zoraï

Tryker relations with the Zoraï in the old lands have left deep scars in the collective memory of the Tryker people.

Typical of their empathetic nature and innate gift for commerce, during the early years in the old lands the Trykers struck up a tacit agreement with the Zoraï whereby raw materials and wares could be exchanged and sold at various trading posts along the great Zoraï wall. Indeed it was the Trykers who introduced the notion of money in the form of dappers, which have since become the accepted international currency.

The Trykers were prepared to put their religious differences aside in the name of peaceful transactions and financial gain. In this climate of economic confidence, wealthy villages and towns soon sprang up around the trading posts on either side of the frontier.

However, Tryker confidence was momentarily shattered in 2435 with the Matis invasion of their lands. The Zoraï response to the Tryker demand for asylum was to draw up their gates to keep violence from their jungle lands, so making Tryker escapees easy prey for the Matis knights. Many thousands of Trykers were slaughtered by the Matis as a deterrent to resistance and rebellion. The rest were made prisoners and shipped back to forest lands where, disorientated, they could be easily exploited as slaves. The trade post towns were ransacked and looted.

After the peace treaty of Karavia in 2437, relations gradually picked up again until 2481 with the Great Swarming of kitins. Again the Zoraï responded to Tryker pleas for refuge by closing their gates in a bid to keep the monsters out! More recently, relations were strained again in 2504 when Fung-Tun permitted slavery in Zoraï lands under the pretext of needing extra hands to repel the goo.

Despite the Zoraï ratifying the Homin Rights Act in 2518, the Tryker government understandably refuses to place its trust in the Zoraï and no longer seeks their custom. Moreover, Trykers find it increasingly difficult to relate to the Zoraï way of life which, for them, stunts individual self development and limits homin freedom of thought. Trykers also find Zoraï generally too austere and incapable, in their quest of the sublime, of taking delight in the simple pleasures and comforts that nature has to offer.

In spite of past bitter feeling, in accordance with the summit of Hoï-Cho of 2516, the Tryker government allows the pro-Zoraï tribe, the Beachcombers, to reside on Aeden Aqueous.

It is to be noted that the Lagoon Brothers are ferociously against Zoraï movement in Aeden Aqueous.

Cube of knowledge sealed in 2525

Tryker History : New Beginning

The period known as the 'New Beginning' marks the beginning of a new era and spans three generations from the resurfacing from the sanctuary of the Prime Root caverns to present day times.

2483 -Resurfacing from Prime Root sanctuary after Karavan assurance that kitins no longer present a threat. Take possession of lake lands. Aeden Aquous explored, scouts come upon a region particularly rich in resources in Liberty Lake. First foundations of Fairhaven laid. Karavan seal Prime Root entrances and forbid their opening. Council of Sages led by Rigan Mac'Darrell swear allegiance to Karavan and, falling into step with the Matis, proclaim an annual celebration (Thanksgiving) in honor of their intervention against the kitins. 'Thanksgiving Day' falls on the winter solstice to symbolize the return of light after the dark years that followed the Great Swarming.

2484 -The area of Liberty Lake and Dew Drops explored and made relatively safe. Exploration of Winds of Muse, outposts set up. The Corsairs, an ancient tribe is reformed to patrol the Liberty Lake area for signs of kitns.

2485 -Water purification program put into place in Winds of Muse.

2486 -Karavan and Matis pressurize Tryker council to push Kami alters away from residential zones.Emergence of 'Guild of Elias'.

2487 -Influx of refugees from great road leading from old lands. Welcome structure put into place to promote integration of Tryker refugees in new society. 'Act of Integration' allowing refugees to rejoin their own civilization. Creation of Safe Zone; camps of Aubermouth, Barkdell, Hobwelly, Waverton and Dingleton established to welcome and train Tryker refugees. Village of Windermeer founded.

2488 -Number of refugees from the exodus begins to fall. Beginning of construction of villages of Crystabell and Avendale. New areas of Prime Roots secretly explored.

2489 -Legendary fighter Bremmen Dingle arrives from old lands with new methods of combat. He shared the road of the exodus with great fighters of other peoples collectively known as the guild of the 'Force of Fraternity'. More outposts set up.

2490 -First kitin sightings in the area of Lagoons of Loria. 'Pact of Mutual Assistance' (PMA) signed by Leanon, Hoï-Cho, Yasson and Mac'Darrell to fight conjointly against kitins. Contingents of Trykers established on every continent. Guild of the Force of Fraternity embark on campaign (to 2492) of mixed homins to rid new homin lands of hostile kitins.

2492 -Members of guild of Force of Fraternity rejoin their own countries after their two year campaign against the kitins. New trade routes traced and opened into foreign lands. Bremmen killed by kitins while exploring Fleeting Garden. Rigan Mac'Darrell pays tribute to Bremmen and the guild of the Force of Fraternity.

2493 -Lagoons of Loria ceded to Matis.

2494 -First sightings of higher cutes in Lagoons of Loria.

2495 -Kitins reappear but kept in check with new methods of combat handed down by the guild of Force of Fraternity. Guild of Elias gaining in popularity.

2496 -'Guild of Try', a secret organization of Tryker tribesmen establish an underground link to Burning Desert. Guild of Elias, portrayed as a sect against the church of Jena, is banned by Karavan. Mercenary tribes and bandits fuel feeling of antagonism for personal gain. Border zones unsafe.

2497 -Despite common respect for Karavan, Tryker prefer to break away from Matis domination and sign an agreement of trade with Fyros. Fyro-Tryker Pact of Alliance.

2498 -Turnpikes established on trade routes under Matis authority. Passage through Prime Roots made difficult by Karavan surveillance.

2599 -Matis revocation of 'Edict of Four Peoples' (signed in Prime Roots in 2481). Matis drive Tryker contingents out of Verdant Heights. 'Autumn War' between Tryker and Matis in Aeden Aqueous over Lagoons of Loria for water resources. Matis annex Lagoons of Loria in Liberty Lake. Tryker guerilla activity in Lagoons of Loria led by Still Wyler.

2500 -Fyros contingent led by Dexton joins Trykers to push back Matis front. Dexton captured and ransomed by Matis.

2501 -Mabreka negotiates Dexton's release for 1 million dappers. Peace Treaty signed at 'Watergate Border Post' by Mac'Darrell, Yasson, Hoï-Cho and Leanon over Lagoons of Loria which becomes free territory.

2503 -Death of Rigan Mac'Darrell. Beadley Nimby wins vote against Corsair candidate, Still Wyler, for the Chair of the Council of Fairhaven.

2504 -Border clashes with multiracial tribes and bandit groups. Wyler claims action against tribes and bandits. Nimby proposes amnesty to offenders.

2505 -Matis impose surtax on Tryker goods passing through Verdant Heights to Burning Desert.

2506 -Nimby steps in line with Matis initiatives to reinforce measures ensuring adherence to Karavan teachings. Matis lower tithes to be paid for convoys traveling through Verdant Heights.

2507 -'Homin Rights Act' drawn up by Tryker Council to combat slave trade.

2508 -Matis prince, Yrkanis, is given refuge in Fairhaven till 2509. Persecution of Trykers in Matis dominions. Beadley Nimby stands down as Master of the Council. Still Wyler, an ex Corsair, elected Master of The Council.

2509 -Wyler embarks on Great Tour (to 2511) of lakes to rally Trykers under his banner. Prince Yrkanis leaves for Witherings.

2511 -Trykers block Matis supplies from Lagoons of Loria.

2512 -Matis conquest of Lagoons of Loria. Prince Yrkanis offers his support to Wyler.

2513 -'Battle of Lagoons of Loria'. Yrkanis sides with Tryker leader, Still Wyler leads in an offensive against Matis in Lagoons of Loria. Many Matis soldiers drop their arms and join the ranks of Prince Yrkanis. First signs of kitins in Grove of Confusion.

2514 -Matis king, Jinovitch is killed. Still Wyler escorts Yrkanis to the Matis amid much rejoicing. Yrkanis accedes to the throne. Matis officially pull out of Lagoons of Loria.

2515 -Peace treaty signed at Fairhaven by Yrkanis, Mabreka, Wyler, and Dexton.

2516 -Summit of Hoï-Cho, four homin powers (Yrkanis, Dexton, Mabreka and Wyler) sign Free Trade Agreement to establish free movement of merchants in all homin territories.

2518 -Ratification of 'Homin Rights Act' by four peoples.

2523 -First ruins discovered in Prime Roots.

2525 -The descendants of the destitute multitudes who never found the rainbows in time, each day come to swell Tryker populations.

Tryker Story 3

Seeds of Common Sense

During the homin period of refuge in the Prime Roots, following the great swarming of kitins, in their mutual suffering the four civilizations came together despite the Karavan predicating that homins shouldn't mix. Jena's disciples were no doubt worried that the survivors of the swarming would fall into discord, kill each other outright and deprive Jena of her offerings!

Nevertheless, for perhaps the first time in history, homins came together to make life as best as possible for one another. We Trykers dealt with the water supply, making sure it was fresh and plentiful, the Fyros set up sentry posts and dug out chambers in the caverns, the Matis made some real comfy furniture and the Zoraïs magnetized places to ward off bad air. All in all homins made every effort to keep their grievances under their bonnets. That is, except on one particular occasion…

In order to take measures to prevent a terrible bane from calling on hominkind again, there was a great debate among the homin leaders to figure out why they had been so severely punished. That was asking for trouble. It was the Fyros who started the ball rolling, as per usual, saying that they were skeptical of the Karavan and even of Jena. Because if Jena was all she was made out to be how could she have let homins be massacred in their hundreds of thousands?

The Matis royal court was flabbergasted and claimed that it was talk like that that had made Jena less attentive to homin suffering, and that the Fyros ought to be more reserved in airing their infidelity. After all it was they who had triggered off the whole invasion in the first place! Besides, weren't the Karavan at present clearing the lands to enable homins to resurface? Then it was the turn of the Zoraï leader, Hoi-Cho, to put in his two dapper worth…

Hoi-Cho said that the Karavan had been unable to react as they didn't have the spiritual aura of the Kamis. And if the high spiritual guardians - meaning the Kamis - did not act immediately it was because of the weak communion between them and the homin people in the wild lands at large - meaning everyone except themselves. Things were getting pretty rowdy when suddenly, above the uproar there came the sound of a great gong, and upon a pedestal there stood, as serene as the summer sun and sage as the stars, Rigan Mac'Darrell, the Tryker leader who called for silence and cupped his ear towards the main door. Everyone suddenly stopped their ruckus and listened in fear of the appalling thumping of kitin feet…

But there was no kitin feet, just the sound of windy silence. Then the Tryker intoned these words which have since remained engraved in Tryker memory : “Let silence clear the air of discord, for in silence do the seeds of common sense grow best!” Then as if by magic there came the sound of whispers and the hushing of young voices, and… four kids, a Tryker, a Fyros, a Matis and a Zoraï, who'd been eavesdropping behind the door, fell into the debate chamber all in one block! This was followed by hearty laughter all round to what Yasson, the Matis King, raised his cup and called a toast : “Pray, let us labor mutually for our children!”

Alas the short silence was not enough to seep into all homin hearts for soon after, they were able to quit the Prime Roots under Karavan assurance and protection, to once again form their own territories and rebuild their respective civilizations.

Tryker Story 4

The Audacity Of Loria

Loria was the only girl raised by a humble family of beachcombers. All day long she would play and watch her cousins spinning the logs down at the river instead of doing chores for her aunty in the lodging. Despite her aunt's scolding she always ended up down at the waterside. Bright and breezy and free as the wind, was Loria, skipping after yubo and shooting the rapids better than any boy. One fine summer's day, as she was hopping over stepping stones around Barley Bay she stumbled upon a loose stone and uncovered a pothole about two feet wide just big enough for a child of eleven to wiggle through.

She ventured inside and climbed down a great sprouting root and to her surprise came upon a cavern of ancient ruins. With a pocketful of white coral pebbles she had picked along the lake shore, she set off all afternoon in exploration of the great chambers using the beautiful luminous flowers there to light her way. The following morning, instead of going to the school house she ran along to the temple and amused the elders with stories of caverns and strange luminous plants. The old sages laughed at her wild imagination but the following day she had a surprise for them.

Vexed by the elder's mocking, the next day Loria took three beautiful plants to the temple. The elders could hardly believe their eyes and asked Loria to show them this cavern. On coming to the pothole the old men drew back aghast in the knowledge that she had ventured into the forbidden Prime Roots so transgressing the Law of Jena, whose disciples would be down on her like a ton of bricks if they knew. Loria was banned from going out for twenty days and the entrance was sealed with silt and clay. Her confinement taught Loria a valuable lesson and she didn't go to that pothole again, nor did she say anything when she discovered another.

One day there was a terrible accident down at the lake where her cousin Bodley, having fallen and knocked his head, was dragged out of the water half drowned. He desperately needed some life seed but the family was too poor to buy any too proud to accept charity. Loria knew that sometimes the Tryker merchants sold lake flowers to the Matis who she knew would pay dearly for a rare plant with illuminating properties. She took to the Prime Roots with a knapsack full of coral pebbles to further explore the galleries leading under the great mountain which divided the vast Matis forests from the lake lands.

Before long the air changed, grew cooler and had a different smell altogether. Then, reaching the dot of light at the end of a tunnel she heard a chattering in a tongue unknown to her. She took a peek out. There, in a pool of clear water surrounded by lofty trees, she spied a group of maidens bathing. By a bush she noticed some strange but beautiful clothing and couldn't resist touching the material it was made of. She picked up a large shoe to see it twinkle in the sun and inside she found the most beautiful seed box.

She opened the seed box of coral and mayleaf to find the answer to her prayers, three precious life seeds. The chattering suddenly grew closer and, hardly having time to think, she pocketed the seed and left the luminous flowers she had picked as payment before dashing back to the pothole entrance. Peering from behind a bush she observed the scene and the wonderment on the faces of the tall ladies she knew now to be Matis. She realized too that she had actually traveled under the great mountain in barely two hours into the Matis territory which normally took a full week by the mountain road. Back at home she crushed the precious seeds and poured the powder into Bodley's tonic so no one would know lest she got scolded for violating the law of the upheld by Jena's disciples, the Karavan.

The following morning she set off again on the journey under the great mountain. By the cool clear pool she saw the beautiful seed box open and brimming with seed. She waited till she was sure the coast was clear, that it was not a trap. She first cast the precious flowers over by the seed box, seeing no one seize them she then dashed over to fetch the seed and back again under the great mountain and home to administer the seed to her ailing cousin. There was enough seed for five days' treatment and he was beginning to recover. But then the heat wave struck and he broke into a fever. Again Loria took to the cool Prime Roots, picked some flowers and went back to the place where the Matis maidens bathed. But there was no one about. She placed a solitary flower on the usual spot in the hope that the maidens would return the next day so she might recover more seed.

The following morning she set off on her journey again with her heart heavy with anguish and full of hope. To her great relief at the bathing pool she saw the seed box full to the brim with the precious seed! She hastily repeated her precautious steps then dashed over and seized the box. Only this time, as she turned back, she had to hold her hand over her mouth to stop her heart skipping out of it, for her path was blocked by an old Matis sage flanked by two maidens! Worse, two men were now creeping up behind her with a net.

From what she could gather the old man was warning her that she couldn't return to the Prime Roots, for he used the words “Jena” and “Karavan” which is the same in all homin tongues, and he had the same reprimanding expression as the elders in her village. But Loria was in no mood for a lecture and threw the flowers for the maidens to catch to create a diversion, pocketed the seed box, dived through the legs of the old man and dashed as fast as she could into the bushes and down into the pothole. Once home she was able to give the precious seed to her poorly cousin who fully recovered to spin the logs many a year there after. And from that time on the family always managed to some how make ends meet. As for the seed box, Loria kept it hidden from all inquisitive eyes for she knew that some day it might come in handy… But that's another tale.